1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of printing and applying labels.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The following U.S. patents are made of record: U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,608 of Charles B. Bussard et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,392 of Paul H. Hamisch, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,396 of Donald S. Stewart; U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,434 of John D. Mistyurik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,442 of Daniel J. Torbeck; U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,926 of Paul H. Hamisch, Jr. et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,733 of Paul H. Hamisch, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,317 of Frank E. Seestrom; U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,326 of John D. Mistyurik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,045 of Brent E. Goodwin et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,100 of Howard M. Shepard et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,617 of Amy S. Christopher et al.
The invention relates to an improved labeler for printing and applying labels which is user-friendly by being low cost, has relatively few parts, is easy to assemble, is easy to load and is easy to use.
It is a feature of the invention to provide a labeler which has a housing with a cover or movable housing section, the housing section being movable between a closed or operating position and an open position which facilitates loading of a roll of a composite web of labels on a carrier web. The cover mounts a scanner which can scan data, such as contained in a bar code, and the scanned data can be used to print and apply labels, this being in addition to the keyboard by which data can be entered manually.
It is another feature of the invention to be able to print on webs of labels or tags of different widths, with the web being center-justified so that the longitudinal centerline of the web is on the centerline of the labeler. In accordance with a specific embodiment of the invention, roll mounting members are movable relatively toward and away from each other in unison to different selected positions to mount rolls of different predetermined widths, and the roll mounting members are releasably held in the selected position.
It is another feature of the invention to provide an improved path or guide system for a carrier web in a hand-held labeler. In a specific embodiment, the path for the carrier web includes a chute through which the spent carrier web exits the labeler, and the chute is shiftable to a position outside the labeler housing for cleaning purposes.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a print head assembly for a printer or labeler in which the print head of the assembly is urged into a stop position by a spring or springs within the assembly and by a spring or springs on the outside of the assembly. In a specific embodiment, the labeler has a movable housing section or cover which bears against the spring or springs which are outside of the assembly.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a housing for a labeler, wherein the labeler has a thermal print head and a platen inside the housing in which the housing has a housing section or cover, wherein the cover is movable between closed and open positions, and wherein the cover is used to move the print head to a predetermined stop position, but wherein neither the latch nor the cover has any influence on the predetermined stop position and therefore has no influence on the load or force between the print head and the platen.
It is another feature of the invention to provide a method of cleaning an exit chute of a labeler by sliding the exit chute from an operating position inside the labeler to outside the labeler, cleaning the discharge chute, and returning the exit chute to a position inside the labeler.